Garage Sale

Today we had our garage sale. We were able to sell just about EVERYTHING! (This picture is after we sold almost all the stuff.) It was great. It far exceeded our expectations. It was a little hard to get rid of some of these things, but it had to be done. I will say that it was amazing how we accumulated soo much junk! I am SURE that we didn't need half of the stuff we had. I am looking forward to living with less. The clutter really gets to you.

Going through all our stuff was like walking down memory lane. I could remember when I got it, and who got it for me, and for what occasion. Some of the things I forgot I even had and would be like "Oh, this was from so-and-so for such-and-such!....aaawww". But that's ok...we can't take this stuff with us, and it's best to live without the clutter.

Anyway...so now that the sale is done we can move onto the next thing.

Still Truckin'

We're still here, finishing up the last bit. And I mean the last bit. We should definitely be out of here by the end of April. I can't believe we finally got here. It seems like it took forever, but yet it seems like we're rushing here at the end. Funny how that happens.

Well, William had his second (and last) surgery last Friday. He had his post-op appointment this afternoon and the dr. said he's doing just fine. Yeah! He goes back again in a couple of weeks to continue to check his progress and then that should be it. I will be so glad when that's all over. I know William will be too. But he has handled this like a champ. I'm really proud of him.

We have our mega-garage sale this weekend to get rid of EVERYTHING. I can't believe all the junk we have! It has been a really stressful week getting everything together, going through every nook and cranny, figuring out what we do and don't want, dealing with William's surgery....whew! Then...we head out next Tuesday to move in with Keith's mom. We just figured it would be easier to do all this a little early, so when we get our clearance to head to Northern Asia, we'll be ready. All we'll have to do is board the plane! So, we are looking at being at her house for a month, tops.

Keith is at a meeting tonight, so I'm stuck here tagging all the garage sale stuff by myself. Guess I better get a move on.

She FINALLY did it!!

More History Eating

First, we learned about ancient India, and we made Chicken Curry.  Then, we learned about ancient China, and we made Broccoli and Beef Stir Fry.  Sorry no pictures on that.  Forgot.  Then this week we learned about ancient Africa, so we made African Peanut Butter Stew!  Yummy!  This is actually a recipe I've been making for years, but it seemed fitting to eat it for our history lesson.  History is turning out to be very delicious.

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Last week someone blessed us with free rodeo tickets to see Clint Black.  So, we packed up all the kids and headed on over.  It was cold and rainy but luckily everything was inside.  We opted not to go to the carnival since that wasn't inside.  But the kids didn't miss it at all.  There was so much to see there.  This was the kids' first rodeo to go to.  And it couldn't have been a better one.

We got there around 2 and stayed through til the concert (around 8).  We only stayed for a few songs though because we didn't want to get stuck in bad traffic, plus it was already pretty late.  The kids each got to pick whatever they wanted to eat, and they each got a souvenir.  Nicole ate a sausage on a stick, William picked corn dog and fries, and Josiah picked a 1/2 lb. cheeseburger (which he ate ALL of).  And for souvenirs...Nicole picked silver horse earrings, William picked a cowboy hat, and Josiah picked a lasso rope (which he made himself).  (In case you're wondering...Caleb ate tamales, and got a stuffed toy frog for his souvenir).  We had a great time, and we're really glad (and grateful) we got to go before we left.     

Packing Up

We want to make sure everything makes it to Northern Asia.

Update to the Update

We are now at 90%! YAY!!!!!

March '09 Update

So much has happened since our last update.  We are now at 86%!  Yeah!  That doesn't leave us with much more to raise.  We are packing up the house and selling a lot of things in preparation for moving to Keith's mom's house at the end of the month.  Our goal is to be leaving sometime in late April or so.  With the way things have been going lately, it may be sooner than that.  We just want to be prepared so that we can leave at a moment's notice.

The kids are getting really excited.  We've already packed up their rooms.  I think it was a little hard for them to get rid of a few things, but moving always gives you a chance to pare down.   We are wanting to take as many of their favorite toys as possible.  We don't want them to ever be bitter about moving overseas.  But overall, they are really ready to go.  So are we!

My (Jaime's) mother is doing much better.  She has started on a trial medicine which seems to be benefitting her.  She is now doing much of what she did before she was diagnosed.  I think she is really glad that she can be more independent now.

William is completely back to normal.  Yeah!  He is running around and acting like his old self again.  We take him back to the doctor on March 18th to see if he needs the second surgery or not.  We are really "hoping" that he will not.  Please be "hoping" with us.  

I guess that's a sufficient update.  Hopefully our next update will be to tell everyone that we are leaving!

Blowing Flowers

Already Pre-Teen??!!

Nicole has officially been accepted in the Pre-Teen Club.  Last Friday she turned 11 years old.  I can't believe she's getting soo old.  I can't believe I'm old enough to have a child so old.  Oh well...  It was a bittersweet birthday for me.  I'm excited to have my children getting older.  They just get more fun that way.  But also sad that she's no longer a baby.  *sniff sniff*

Note:  Just to throw this in there because of all the cake decorating I was learning...The birthday cake up there was made by yours truly.  Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.